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Somalia's political process 'getting delayed'

Mandate for transitional government expires on August 20 but there seems little headway in electoral process.

19 Jul 2012 13:40 GMT

Tribal leaders in Somalia would have chosen members of constituent assembly by now, which would have backed a new constitution and appointed the parliament, to be followed by election of new president.

Tribal leaders say they won’t hand in the names until they are given more of a role in government, which means there won't be new government by August 20, the date on which the mandate for the UN-backed transitional government ends.

Somalia has not seen an elected government in more than 20 years, and the International community is running out of patience as the temporary government has been funded for more than seven years now.

Meanwhile, a leaked UN report says millions of dollars of taxpayers funds intended for Somalia's Transitional Federal Government have gone missing. It claims that for every $10 received, $7 never made it into state coffers.

This will only compound doubts as to whether this deadline can be met.